Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Important announcement
Slooporonto: Edition 2 was going to bring you news from the Julie Doiron concert tonight, but alas your intrepid reporter has fallen sick with cold. There is a faint chance I may still make it, but if I don't I will instead offer you the first edition of Slooperature, where I will discuss what I have been reading during my one day of convalescence.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Sloop-oronto: Edition 1
This begins my first edition of Sloop-oronto, a segment where I bring tales of my Toronto cultural experiences. Tonight: BASH'd at Passe Muraille.
SOME BACKGROUND INFO:
Theatre Passe Muraille pretty much wrote the book on alternative Canadian theatre. In the 1970's they were THE avant-garde Canadian theatre company, doing radical leftist, often site-specific theatre with the nationalist bent that would come to define the alternative Canadian theatre movement. For this, they will always be my heart. As is the case with most of the alternates though, over the years they institutionalized and mainstreamed (and acquired walls, despite their name). Some consider this heresy, others a natural and inevitable evolution. In recent years they have run into financial difficulty and now are trying to rediscover their place in the Toronto theatre community. They have opted for a 'midwife' role, working with and nurturing talented individuals and companies, and sharing with them the resources of Passe Muraille.
BASH'd
I am too lazy to reread my program, but BASH'd started in Alberta, I believe as a Fringe piece, and has since gone on to big things, including a successful off-Broadway run. The show, a 'hip-hopera' is essentially two white dudes rapping about being gay. And it is OFF THE HOOK. The energy pouring out of the two actors is full-force, non-stop gusto for the entirety of the 75-minute showtime. They pretty much never stop rapping.
The plot is as follows: gay boy from the country meets gay boys from the city, they fall in love, get married, country boy's parents accept his orientation, and everything is story-book happy. Then one of the characters gets viciously attacked in a hate crime. He survives, but he and his partner clash over how to go on in the aftermath. Retreat and lick your wounds, or match violence with violence?
I really loved how they made their reaction to the hate crime, and not the hate crime itself, the focal point of the play. It felt, in a lot of ways, like they were picking up where Laramie left off. It also kept that old tired victim/aggressor dichotomy at bay.
I could ramble on here about my issues with hypermasculinity and violence and how the play dealt with them but this ain't no essay and I did not mean to spend very long writing this.
Anyways. To conclude, I will say that the use of the hip-hop genre worked explosively well. For me, this play was an example of musical theatre at its finest. Others might dispute that this play fits into the musical theatre genre, but I will be happy to argue that point with them (and more than likely will have to soon with a certain musical theatre-hater I know). The rhythms of the rapping molded the emotional rhythms of the play like a heartbeat, to incredible dramatic effect.
Well, that's it for edition one. Here's what you can expect upcoming on Sloop-oronto.
Julie Doiron and Herman Dune in concert (okay, I might leave before Herman starts. We'll see)
Battle of the Blades Live: The Results Show (because fucking Ticketmaster bought out the performance night)
Elliott Brood in concert
John Ralston Saul at the AGO
Peter Mansbridge and Rex Murphy at the Appel Salon
The Nightingale at the COC
So stay tuned!
SOME BACKGROUND INFO:
Theatre Passe Muraille pretty much wrote the book on alternative Canadian theatre. In the 1970's they were THE avant-garde Canadian theatre company, doing radical leftist, often site-specific theatre with the nationalist bent that would come to define the alternative Canadian theatre movement. For this, they will always be my heart. As is the case with most of the alternates though, over the years they institutionalized and mainstreamed (and acquired walls, despite their name). Some consider this heresy, others a natural and inevitable evolution. In recent years they have run into financial difficulty and now are trying to rediscover their place in the Toronto theatre community. They have opted for a 'midwife' role, working with and nurturing talented individuals and companies, and sharing with them the resources of Passe Muraille.
BASH'd
I am too lazy to reread my program, but BASH'd started in Alberta, I believe as a Fringe piece, and has since gone on to big things, including a successful off-Broadway run. The show, a 'hip-hopera' is essentially two white dudes rapping about being gay. And it is OFF THE HOOK. The energy pouring out of the two actors is full-force, non-stop gusto for the entirety of the 75-minute showtime. They pretty much never stop rapping.
The plot is as follows: gay boy from the country meets gay boys from the city, they fall in love, get married, country boy's parents accept his orientation, and everything is story-book happy. Then one of the characters gets viciously attacked in a hate crime. He survives, but he and his partner clash over how to go on in the aftermath. Retreat and lick your wounds, or match violence with violence?
I really loved how they made their reaction to the hate crime, and not the hate crime itself, the focal point of the play. It felt, in a lot of ways, like they were picking up where Laramie left off. It also kept that old tired victim/aggressor dichotomy at bay.
I could ramble on here about my issues with hypermasculinity and violence and how the play dealt with them but this ain't no essay and I did not mean to spend very long writing this.
Anyways. To conclude, I will say that the use of the hip-hop genre worked explosively well. For me, this play was an example of musical theatre at its finest. Others might dispute that this play fits into the musical theatre genre, but I will be happy to argue that point with them (and more than likely will have to soon with a certain musical theatre-hater I know). The rhythms of the rapping molded the emotional rhythms of the play like a heartbeat, to incredible dramatic effect.
Well, that's it for edition one. Here's what you can expect upcoming on Sloop-oronto.
Julie Doiron and Herman Dune in concert (okay, I might leave before Herman starts. We'll see)
Battle of the Blades Live: The Results Show (because fucking Ticketmaster bought out the performance night)
Elliott Brood in concert
John Ralston Saul at the AGO
Peter Mansbridge and Rex Murphy at the Appel Salon
The Nightingale at the COC
So stay tuned!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thought of the day
That 'oh my god what the fuck are we going to do with our lives' angst that began in university did not end with graduation, but rather grew and continues to grow and it is not that we don't have the foggiest idea what we want to be, we have seven foggy ideas and not a clue how to attain any of them.
To paraphrase Caroline in the City, "your twenties are such a waste. If you don't drink, there's really no point."
Can I wake up and be thirty and settled now?
To paraphrase Caroline in the City, "your twenties are such a waste. If you don't drink, there's really no point."
Can I wake up and be thirty and settled now?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Phew
Good news guys, I did some research, and it turns out Quebec City survived the American siege and is now a thriving metropolis of 700 000. I know it was touch-and-go there for awhile and I think we can all safely breathe a sigh of relief.
The consequences of watching youtube clips of Canada: A People's History nonsequentially.
OH MY GOD BENEDICT ARNOLD IS MARCHING ON QUEBEC CITY! WE ARE ALL DOOMED!
The next clip is the Plains of Abraham and I am left totally hanging. WHAT HAPPENED TO ARNOLD AND QUEBEC?
This is what I get for not caring in grade 10 history. I really need to get up to snuff.
The next clip is the Plains of Abraham and I am left totally hanging. WHAT HAPPENED TO ARNOLD AND QUEBEC?
This is what I get for not caring in grade 10 history. I really need to get up to snuff.
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